A virtual server set may be designated to address user requests. Such a server set will typically include a plurality of processors, a memory, and a virtual switch to manage the input/output routing of the requests, as well as control management of the virtual server set. A data communication switch may be used in a computer network to communicatively couple devices on the network. For example, a switch may route a message to a selected server computer, host, or processor based on a media access control (MAC) address contained as a destination address in the message. In some contexts, the data communication switch may be said to provide packet switching functions.
Denial-of-Service attacks (DoS attacks) are designed to overwhelm the ability of a virtual server set to address user requests. That is, requests are sent in at such a fast rate that the virtual server set assigned to handle the requests cannot keep up, for example has little or no remaining time for handling legitimate requests. The goal of such attacks may be to cause a partial or complete shutdown of the virtual server set.